


Strawberry Swing

by matcha_milkyway



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-19
Updated: 2015-03-19
Packaged: 2018-03-18 15:06:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3574178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matcha_milkyway/pseuds/matcha_milkyway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's summer, and the Iwatobi Gang (ex-member Rin included) spend a day at the beach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strawberry Swing

Gou tightens the ribbon around her ponytail, fixes the zip on her jeans, then stalks into the room. 

"Onii-chan," she huffs. 

Rin looks up, promptly abandoning the mutilated strawberry he'd been holding between forefinger and thumb.  
It falls with the softest of thuds onto the table and glistens; flesh exposed, minute droplets of water forming on its marred surface.

"...I just put those in the freezer."  
"My bad." 

"There'll be ants, you know."

\--

She regrets the jeans the very moment she steps out of the house. 

The air is stuffy and humid, the sun burning like a pyromaniac intent on scorching every living being half to death. Already she can feel beads of perspiration begin to pepper her forehead, sweat dampening the back of her shirt.

She turns, and at the sight of her brother; head thrown back and scowling into the sky as if to blame whatever gods above for the uncomfortable warmth, she reins in a snicker and presses a hand to her mouth. The familiarity of his actions dissipates a certain unease, in its place bubbling an odd mix of satisfaction and nostalgia. 

She's glad he's back.

"Why all the way there?" he growls, stuffing his hands into his pockets in a show of (feigned) nonchalance.

Gou merely smiles in reply.

As they advance the cicadas' unceasing chirping accompanies like a bizarre looping soundtrack, a line of ants marching alongside purposefully their sole companions.

Rin wonders for a fleeting moment if a single ant is strong enough to shoulder the weight of a whole strawberry.

\--

"It's the seeeeeea!" Nagisa hollers, eyes sparkling and face lit-up. Beside him, Rei splutters and launches into a lecture on the importance of respect for the residents in the area (and, knowing him, how _opening your mouth that wide isn't beautiful, Nagisa-kun_ , but the glaringly obvious and gargantuan crush Rei harbours for the blonde probably undermines that statement.) 

Standing fifteen metres away Rin heaves a sigh of distress, running a hand through dishevelled burgundy and silently wishing Gou hadn't gone off ahead. 

Today is one day he _definitely_ does not want to fuck up. 

In a formidable display of willpower he sets a foot forward, the sensation of sand between his toes somewhat reassuring. The breeze carries with it the clean salty tang of the sea, and within the scent assaulting his olfactory senses Rin finds faint memories of carefree bliss and unburdened smiles. 

"Rin?"

He breaks out of his reverie, simultaneously stiffening and bristling, then whirling around.  
"Y-yo, Haru." 

_What the_ fuck, _self_. 

The corner of Haruka's mouth quirks up, amused, and Rin thinks he might die, except Nagisa chooses that exact moment to barrel into Rin's back like a pink-and-yellow projectile with a joyous cry of "Rin-chan!", and the redhead thinks he's never appreciated Nagisa's existence to this extent before. 

"Why the hell are there strawberry skewers at a barbecue?!" Gou yells from afar. 

Rin laughs.

\--

The very first thing he registers is a shock of carmine, then: _Rin's here._

Even now he can feel the warmth pressed against his body, the tears pooling upon his shoulder, recall the sensation of his palm pressed against the small of Rin's back, the flutter of maroon eyelashes against his collarbone, and the exceedingly intense euphoria that had fuelled uncharacteristic smiles in the days to come. 

Rin blushes so bright his face practically blends into his hair, and Haruka cannot hold back the surge of affection that wells up in his chest. 

"Why the hell are there strawberry skewers at a barbecue?!" Gou shouts, incredulous, and Haruka thinks Rin has definitely rubbed off on her; yet when he finds himself thinking Rin's laughter is perhaps the only thing he'll ever need to hear, when he finds himself wondering if Rin tastes like strawberries, he _absolutely_ refuses to admit that Rin has rubbed off on him, too. 

Makoto taps him on the shoulder, suggesting Haruka head for a quick swim before they start eating, then flashes him an infuriatingly knowing smile when he wraps a hand around Rin's wrist and tugs him in the direction of the ocean, "let's race" on the tip of his tongue.

\--

Later, they sit cross-legged on the gaudily-patterned rug of some sort Rei has spread (after an arduous hour of calculations for the _perfect_ distance away from the sea) surrounded by the aftermath of hours spent fooling around (namely, the rinds of split watermelons, shed flip-flops and sneakers alike, and a deflated beach ball), and dig into the food with fervour. 

Rin works the barbecue, donning the ridiculous "Kiss the Cook" apron--courtesy of Nagisa, of course--and throwing meat on the grill.  
"It suits you, Rin", Haruka had smirked, and Rin had reacted accordingly, threatening to grace the fire with the presence of his face.

The watercolour sky is a myriad of burgundies, ambers and olives, the setting sun a semi-circle of canary in the horizon, and Rin _unconsciously_ settles into Haruka's shoulder, pressing into his side. 

"Onii-chan," Gou huffs as she tightens the ribbon around her ponytail, having returned just as abruptly as she had stalked off. She gestures at the bowl of frozen strawberries in the middle of the rug.

"Ah."

\--

Cerulean trail the deft fingers' movement, the delicate pinching of the stalk, the swift motion with which Rin plucks and rids the fruit of green.

He looks up. 

"Eat," Rin smiles, waving the strawberry in Haruka's face. 

His lips close around proffered fruit, and he realizes he never did know the rose dusted upon Rin's cheekbones could fill him up with such unadulterated satisfaction; like a shock of pure gold tinted pink running through his veins. 

"Doesn't taste like mackerel," he mutters.  
"Of course not, you idiot!" Rin laughs,  
and it's the most beautiful sound in the world. 

The gradually diminishing sunlight glints off his hair, silken wine glowing gold, and Haruka leans forward.

\--

He _does_ taste like strawberries, Haruka learns.

In the background, Makoto yelps, Rei shrieks, and Nagisa whoops a triumphant "I KNEW IT!"

Haruka smiles into the kiss, and Rin nibbles his bottom lip in scolding.

\--

"...there'll be ants, you know." Gou huffs, but she cannot stop the smile that breaks out on her face.

**Author's Note:**

> I was eating frozen strawberries and then this happened.  
> Any feedback welcomed (uwu✿) Thank you very much for reading!


End file.
